1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film container adapted for automatically developing a photographic film which does not have a leader attached thereto, and an automatic developing apparatus adapted for developing the photographic film.
2. Background Art
A conventional photographic film 1 is rolled in a cylindrical cartridge 2 as shown in FIG. 15 allowing the end of the film to be withdrawn from the cartridge substantially tangentially thereto. Since the film 1 is wound around a core in the cartridge 2, the film 1 has a curled shape, as illustrated, after it has been withdrawn from the cartridge.
On the other hand, in a developing apparatus for developing the film 1, the film 1 is carried while successively submerged in a series of treatment solutions. As shown in FIG. 16, the film 1 is intended to be positioned between a draw-out roller 4, rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow by a driving system 3, and a nip roller 5, so that the film 1 can be conveyed to a developing tank (not shown).
However, the curl of the film 1 often prevents the end of the film 1 from being properly positioned between the draw-out roller 4 and the nip roller 5, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 8. As a result, the film 1 cannot be properly conveyed or otherwise may become jammed.
To prevent the aforementioned problem, the curling of the film 1 may be corrected by removing the film in a manner that causes the film to curl in the opposite direction to its natural curl or by attaching an uncurled leader to the film. However, the decurling of the film must be performed in a dark room to avoid exposure of the film to light resulting in attendant disadvantages. Further, the attaching of the leader must be performed by hand, so that not only preparation of the leader is required but much labor is required for attaching the leader.
Although a method of automatically supplying the film 1 to the developing apparatus in the condition that a leader is attached to the end of the film 1 has been proposed (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application (OPI) Nos. Hei-3-12305 and Hei-3-12306), an apparatus for automatically supplying and processing the film 1 without use of any leader has not been devised.
The present invention is designed to overcome these problems. Specifically, an object is to provide a film container adapted for automatically supplying a film to a draw-out position, and also to provide an automatic developing apparatus arranged to efficiently perform a series of development treatments by automatically supplying films to the developing apparatus.